Digital Inclusion
Approaches and solutions that are helping to bridge the digital divide, particularly amongst vulnerable and marginalized populations, so that all agri-food system actors can benefit from the digital economy
Some of the potential topics for discussion under Digital Inclusion include:
Commercializing ICTforAg solutions for women farmers and by women entrepreneurs
Women produce approximately 60-70% of the food in most developing countries and are responsible for almost 50% of all global food production. However, the adoption of ICT-enabled solutions among women farmers across regions is dismally low. This digital divide can work against gender mainstreaming activities by creating a bias in favor of men who are more likely to adopt technologies. ICTforAg can be made more gender-inclusive by encouraging women entrepreneurs to develop tech-based solutions; involving women in the design stage; using sex-disaggregated data for customer segmentation; including women in community mobilization teams; and similar approaches. Approaches that make ICTforAg technologies more gender-sensitive and enable women entrepreneurs to contribute to the development of more gender-balanced tech solutions are imperative.
Behavior change for adoption and continued usage of ICTforAg solutions
The adoption of ICTforAg is affected by both supply factors (network coverage, digital content, solution alignment with end-user and long-term sustainability) and demand factors (including skills/knowledge). In several cases, while the suppliers of technology have a robust understanding of the solutions, their designs lack alignment with end-user needs, and they lack expertise in community mobilization and long-term sustainable usage after the intervention/program ends. However, there are several grassroots agencies and civil society organizations (CSOs) that work on behavior change programs amongst smallholder farmers. Deciphering behavior-change models, including incentive structures, have the potential to increase adoption and continued usage of ICTforAg solutions at the grassroots.
Digital inclusion of indigenous people, linguistic and ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ communities, and people with disabilities
Even as smartphone adoption and internet penetration increase rapidly, there are several inequities in digital inclusion due to barriers such as language, age, geography, gender, and race. Highlighting programs and showcases that have successfully promoted the digital inclusion of marginalized communities can go a long way in ensuring inclusivity.
Programs enabling youth inclusion in agriculture
In several geographies, such as China, South Korea, Kenya, and Uganda, there has been an overall increase in the average age of farmers. Programs designed to incentivize youth to participate in agriculture, especially technology-driven agriculture, do not only help to overcome the challenge of aging farmers but also help overcome challenges related to digital literacy at the last mile. Additionally, the demonstration effect of seeing successful young farmers could encourage other youth to engage in agriculture. Showcasing successful programs will help to demonstrate what has been working to engage youth in agriculture.
Sustainable models for delivering digital literacy
One of the largest barriers to achieving scale in the ICTforAg sector is limited digital literacy in the last mile. As a result, several enterprises use significant effort and capital to provide digital literacy training to farmers. However, this effort impacts the business models and sustainability of enterprises, as efforts often have to be duplicated when expanding into new markets. Innovative models can be leveraged globally for imparting digital literacy in the last mile and sharing best practices.
Hybrid models for digital inclusion and digitizing value chains
Digitization of agricultural value chains often requires a whole-spectrum view of supply chains to identify the right entry points and stakeholders for digitization. For instance, in value chains with multiple financial transactions and where the produce changes ownership several times, digitization of transactions might be a suitable entry point while other interactions could continue to be analogue. Similarly, in value chains that have input subsidies, the supply of inputs could be an efficient entry point for digitization while other interactions could continue to be analogue. Furthermore, there could be some value chains where aggregators and end-buyers might have access to technology, while the producers do not, resulting in a customized digitization exercise. Identifying best practices can help support the choice between digital and analogue outreach strategies and provide recommendations on how and when hybrid models should be used.